According to verses 6-10 of this chapter, the Holy Spirit led Paul and his companions to Macedonia, and so that’s where they went.
At first, things went well, but eventually they were tossed into prison for casting out a demon from a girl.
If you had been Paul and Silas, what would you have done?
“God! What are you doing? You told us to go to Macedonia, didn’t you? We did what you said! Why are we suffering like this?”
Probably many people would react in just that way.
But what did Paul and Silas do?
Without a word of complaint, they spent their time in jail praying and singing songs of praise to God.
What happened then? An earthquake hit breaking not only their chains, but the chains of the prisoners around them.
Not only that, when the jailer saw all this, he put his faith in Jesus and was saved.
God never promises us an easy life. He never says, “If you follow me, you’ll never suffer.”
In fact, he promises the exact opposite. (John 14:18-21, 16:1-4, 33; 2 Timothy 3:12)
But in all your suffering, remember this: Jesus is with you. And your suffering will not last forever. (John 16:33)
So don’t complain in your suffering. Rather, like Paul and Silas, sing songs of praise to God.
If you do, not only will your bitter chains fall off, but when others see you, like the jailer, they too may believe and be saved, their chains of sin falling to the ground.
But if you don’t believe God is good, you won’t ever do this.
How about you? What do you believe?
Moment to moment 